I let out a sigh of satisfaction as I float in the warm pool and stare up at the ornate ceiling.

I think I'm fine now.

Didn't Hana say she was some sort of "s-x beast"? Abstinence was supposed to make her stronger, but now she's too addicted to my sword to ever go back to her untouched days. Am I something like her?

Alissa pokes Hana and explains my thoughts to her.

"Possibly," Hana hums with a nod. "Dragons are supposed to have 'vices,' so I think that's why your thirst for flowers increased so much after you became a weredragon."

I turn my face to the side and softly ask, "What would abstinence do to me?"

She grins fearsomely. "Kill you, or make you angry all the time like it did with me."

"He's definitely going to die if he tries to abstain…" Klein weakly chimes in as Jarn massages her back.

"He technically went insane when we got separated in Legado," Roxanne points out.

Hana shrugs and replies, "If he's like me, then once he's got a taste of the fruit, it becomes really hard to forget it, so it's not something that just anybody can do."

"Yeah, idea discarded," I declare as I wave my claws dismissively.

"What I wanted to know was if that surge of energy we had was another Intervention," Lina changes the topic, and we all turn to Ciel.

Our chocolate angel smiles as she explains, "Technically, yes, but we call it a Divine Boon since it's comparatively minor given what a true Intervention can do. It doesn't feel right calling what is basically a stronger [Inspire] spell the same thing as when the Gods bend reality to their will. But anyway, the Templars receive Boons regularly when they go into battle, and it's a requirement to achieve the higher ranks among them."

I hum in thought and wonder, "Huh… imagine fighting a foe that can suddenly regain its morale and energy at the whim of the Gods."

Ciel nods and adds, "Yes, that's why they're so feared."

"Wait, what happened?" Klein curiously interjects, and Ciel gives her a quick explanation. "So… it's something that's not supposed to be impressive?" The monkey girl asks as her long tail waves about.

Ciel agrees then smiles wryly, "Exactly. Well, we aren't Templars, so it should be unusual for our family to receive a Boon, but then again, two Interventions…"

"Yes, I…" -Klein gives me a wry glance- "understand what you mean."

After we all work together to give Yunia her glorious drills back, I store the golems, and we leave the bath. Then Klein returns to our men, and a servant guides us to the party that started without us. All of the nobles are gathered on a wide rooftop at the top of one of the many towers that make up the Disneyland-like castle at the center of the caldera.

It's midday, so the sun shines down from directly above us, creating a beautiful gradient across the town as it becomes darker the further down one looks until the bottom seems as if it were fully night.

The chaotically cute town is a treat for the eyes, but I still think that Escanso's natural beauty puts it above every other town I've seen.

The music is very soothing, with small drums and harps instead of the shrill violins and bagpipes from before, and our abused eardrums thank the pixie musicians for their consideration.

Aoi's presence draws a lot of attention now that she's in her dragon form, but surprisingly, nobody approaches us, except for the Prince, who receives us a bit more cheerfully now that his eardrums have been healed and there isn't gnomic music being blasted everywhere.

"Ryders, I assume our bath was to your satisfaction considering how long you spent there," he gently greets.

"Indeed, it was very satisfying," I reply with a sly grin.

He blinks blankly twice, my innuendo possibly going over his head, then he resumes his polite demeanor. "Forgive us, for we've started the celebrations without you, but my Royal Father and Mother still wish to make an announcement to thank you for your aid."

"You honor us with such reverence," Yunia politely replies with a respectful nod.

He gives us a gentle (and really cute) smile. "Let no one say that gnomes don't know how to show appreciation to their guests."

Yunia mirrors his expression. "Never dreamed of it."

He nods twice, then motions to the tables at the center of the rooftop. "Eat a little; you must be hungry. The announcement will happen soon."

"Thank you," I hum.

Then he leaves us and returns to the circle of bearded old gnomes who look like stereotypical fantasy scholars with their ornate robes and collection of glasses and monocles.

Our eyes fall upon the floating tables filled with food and the also floating plates that seem to act as waiters, offering food to the groups at the outer edge of the party.

Then I see it. A jet-black, hot beverage being held by only the gnomes, and the hint of the earthy smell of freshly brewed coffee enters my nostrils.

I make a beeline to the nearest glass jar that holds the stuff, and the gnome servant begins pouring it for me as I approach.

"Coffee, my Lord?" He gently asks, then offers it to me.

It's odd to see it being served in a wide, heavy bottomed glass, but the strength of pure black coffee kind of warrants the more refined vessel.

I take the cup and smell it. Brewed coffee doesn't have the same blissful smell of coffee grounds, but this aroma is enough to arouse my abstinent mind.

Then I eagerly take a sip, and my tongue complains about the bitter, astringent taste. It sucks, but my mind rejoices, for I've finally found the ambrosia for the brain.

It's simple, brewed coffee, which isn't that interesting when taken pure. Though at least it isn't the low-quality variety that's more bitter than Arabica.

It seems that the gnomes don't know the wonders of coffee with milk, or how to pair coffee with earthy sweets like chocolate, so there's still a lot of untapped potential to explore.

Then I actually pay attention to the rest of the food at the table and raise an eyebrow.

Flowers, dandelions, fried tree bark, grass sprouts, birdseed, wriggling mushrooms, alien-looking veggies, and a variety of small critters for meat. Those are the most exotic, and then there's the "cute" food with their cartoonish shapes.

A not-mango shaped like a fish; a not-pear shaped like a round puppy face; a tomato-like fruit shaped like an inflated goblin head; an octopus-shaped not-orange with wriggly tentacles (possibly the origin of Delicious Horrors); a boar-shaped not-watermelon; a dice-shaped not-strawberry; a sock-shaped not-banana; and many more.

There's "normal" food too, of course, and even a lot of seafood for the Thalanthro, but the gnome/pixie stuff is a lot more eye-catching. And we're all thankful that there's no bug meat in sight.

"Oh, I really did drink this when I passed through Oostlijpost," Ciel remarks as she sips her cup. "It really doesn't taste very good, but it's… oddly addictive."

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"Coffee is fuel for gnomes, my Lords, and it's the most popular drink among scholars," the servant softly states.

"Fitting, I guess," Hana grunts and snorts.

Lina takes a sip, and she actually enjoys it black, but the rest of the girls don't.

"Your seed tastes a lot better," Aoi grumbles, her draconic double voice making the servant's face go pale.

"I agree," Alissa hums as she smiles.

The servant blinks blankly, trying his best to not look afraid of Aoi and to also ignore what he just heard.

I pull out of my "Items" a jug of warm milk and some chocolate cookies, then I instruct the girls on how to make the simple and sacred "café com leite." Unfortunately, we don't have chocolate wafers, which I believe are the superior sweet to combine with milk coffee.

"You… carry milk and cookies in your [Item Box]?" A familiar, cute female voice graces my ears.

I happily turn around, and my eyes meet with Tinkerbell's as she floats before us. She's now wearing an emerald dress full of flowery embroidery, and the color fits her perfectly.

"I am a Space mage," I proudly declare.

She raises a thin, blonde eyebrow at me.

"With a big [Item Box]," I huskily add.

Her cute red lips curl into a smirk as she jokes in return, "That's what all the gnomes say."

"His 'Item Box' is very 'adaptable,'" Alissa gently affirms with a nod, but the cute pixie doesn't seem to get Alissa's play on words.

The rest of the girls know what's coming, so they stay out of it, though Lina is conflicted about whether or not she wants Tinkerbell to flirt with her.

"Back in Escanso, the people gave me the Title 'Shapeshifter,'" I smugly explain.

Belind's butterfly wings flap gently, releasing a few magical sparkles, then she suddenly opens her mouth into an "o" and coos, "Ooooh~…! Wait, how did you get that Title?"

"Plowed a dozen women in public, at the same time," Alissa casually replies.

And I give her a demonstration as I sprout five exquisitely shaped swords, then I vibrate them.

"W-w-what?! Is that [Mana Body]?!" She exclaims in disbelief.

I shake my head gently and grin smugly. "No, it's my own special skill and spell. Now, this is [Mana Body]." Then I make my claws round and soft like noodles.

She floats closer and inspects them. "Oh~, interesting… You surprised me at first because I couldn't believe that anyone so young would invest so heavily in that skill, but now, you've made me quite intrigued with your spell."

So I give her an explanation of [Soul Manipulation] and Gify's custom [Materialize] spell.

She turns to the little gluttonous thing who's currently wolfing down a whole sock not-banana and smiles adorably as she exclaims "My! What a helpful little one. If only the nature spirits of the Enchanted Forest were as helpful as you, we'd be so much more productive!"

"Gih!" Gify chirps angrily and glares at me.

Belind covers her mouth with her hand in surprise. "You don't say!"

"What, I don't-…" I try to defend myself.

"Gueh gah gueeh!" Gify lays it down vengefully.

I clamp my mouth shut and glare at the white, feathery little shit on my shoulder.

Belind interlaces her fingers together in front of her waist and gives us a gentle look as she confesses, "I'm always envious of the relationship others have with their nature spirits."

"Why? Do you want to befriend one?" Alissa questions her curiously.

The little pixie chuckles and flaps her wings. "It's a bad idea. The gnomes say that we pixies are already mischievous enough, and we don't need to make it even worse."

"Two Gifys doesn't sound that bad, especially if one is a beautiful young woman," I smoothly flirt.

She lets out high-pitched giggles as she covers her mouth, then she gives me a sassy look. "My, it seems that most of what I heard about you, Your Highness Wolf, has a good deal of truth behind it."

I share a concerned look with Alissa and calmly reply, "Well, I'm glad that people aren't spreading lies about me, but I still ask that you keep an open mind because I know how easily misunderstood my actions can be."

She nods repeatedly. "I understand. To give you the benefit of the doubt is the least we can do after your actions saved so many lives today."

I smile a bit shyly. Though she has enough "Charisma" to compete with Ciel in the "angel" department, I'm way too experienced to let her charm me so easily. Roxanne's succubi powers trained me well enough to be able to resist that.

"We're happy to be of help to fellow humanoids," I smoothly affirm with a nod.

She smiles, then hums in thought, "Hm… since we're talking about rumors surrounding you, there's something my brother might want to hear."

We nod and give her leave, and while she goes to fetch the dull Prince, the girls and I savor my new invention. The girls all approve of "café com leite" with chocolate cookies, even the human inside Aoi.

Oh, yeah… that's the good stuff.

"What did you do to the coffee?" Looklwind immediately asks as he approaches.

"I added milk to mellow out the bitterness. You should try it sometime," I happily suggest.

The Prince simply frowns and coughs, then glances at the pixie.

Belind chuckles softly and continues, "Brother, did you hear that the Ryder family has started a 'Research Institute' in Escanso?"

Oh, I'm surprised she heard about it.

His frown immediately disappears, and his eyebrows rise up as he hums, "Hm? What sort of research?"

Now it's my turn to take over, "So far, only Chimera airplanes, but just yesterday, they showed us the results of a different approach to airplane design. I'm confident in saying that the Raki airplane we've created is the fastest vehicle in existence."

"Oh~…" Belind coos as her red lips take an "o" shape, and her blonde eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Quite impressive," Looklwind mumbles, looking intrigued.

I smile gracefully and continue, "But that's just the beginning. There's much more that can be researched in the field of mechanics, but we lack the people with formal knowledge in this area of study, specifically, mathematics."

"Oh~…" Now the Prince mirrors the Princess' previous expression.

Seeing how the gnomes already know how to build caterpillar tracks, perhaps they have a greater understanding of mechanics than the Chimeras, who have primarily focused on aerodynamics. If I can recruit some gnomes, I might be able to create tanks and cars.

"It's why we're learning algebra. It's necessary for us to really understand how everything connects," Lina suddenly joins in.

"See? She understands it!" Looklwind exclaims as he glares at his sister.

"Well, it was Wolfy who helped me see things this way," Lina shyly adds.

Belind sighs and slowly nods as she tiredly replies, "Yes, yes, you're all worshipers of Knowledge or Intelligence, and now that I've found something to connect both parties together, you can begin your impenetrable conversation." Then she smiles and giggles softly.

Then I interject before we all start nerding out, "The mathematical language you use may be different from what they use, so why don't we begin with something simple to gauge and determine any terminological differences?"

The Prince nods in understanding and calmly questions, "Do you know of Dreikoh's Theorem?"

"We don't," I immediately reply.

"The relation between the sides of a square that make up a triangle?"

Pythagoras?

I nod. "That, I know."

"Geometry?" Aoi suddenly questions, and her draconic voice visibly scares the Prince, making Belind grin smugly.

"Y-yes, geometry," he stiffly agrees.

Our high-brow talk is interrupted by the ethereal ringing of a bell, then all chatter at the party dies down as we turn towards the source.

King Lookwir floats towards the center of the rooftop, slightly above our eye level, then the shiny old gnome trades his grandfatherly air for a more serious expression and begins his speech, "Noblemen and noblewomen from all over the empire, the nation of Gnomeria thanks you all for answering our call. As many of you may have noticed, our expectations of this monster attack were completely crushed by their sudden evolution."

He turns to us, and the grandpa aura returns as he smiles. "The extent of these changes wouldn't have been noticed so early if the Royal Ryder family hadn't engaged the main insect army before they reached our defensive lines. Their efforts saved many lives, and so, for their bravery, they have our gratitude." Then he nods respectfully.

A violet and gold hydrangea with butterfly wings floats beside him and holds his hand, then she assumes a more stoic expression as she continues, "And with all of you holding your defense tunnels so fiercely, Reef Lord Graf was freed to wipe out the lava hybrids that were slowly making their way towards our town. Thousands of monsters were reaped like harvest day. Their effort allowed our army to concentrate on securing our choke points, and so, for their skill, they have our gratitude."

The King turns towards Graf and finishes, "Since you both did so much more than was originally agreed to, we believe that you deserve a suitable reward. Talk to our advisors and ask them about what we have to offer."

I feel quite humbled by their kindness. I just wonder how I'd feel if I had to ask for outside help to defend our territory. To know one's limits is essential for a Lord because if we miscalculate things, our heads will roll.

The nobles clap respectfully, and an old, refined gnome approaches us. Yunia immediately takes over, and her first question is about their enchanted emplacements.

The Misty Fox Elder comes to talk to Alissa, and Lina, Aoi, and Looklwind don't need my guidance anymore, so I feel like it's a good time for me to take my leave.

Ciel decides to accompany me, so I give the royals a brief goodbye and ask for a servant to take me to our men.

We enter a large hall in the main castle building, and our ears are blasted by upbeat music.

Immediately, I notice that the men have formed into four groups. The first is the soldiers dancing in the middle of the room while drinking copious amounts of alcohol; the second is the wounded (all blind or partially), who are laying in lounging chairs with a glowing gem tied to the side of each of their heads and are surrounded by their friends; the third is the elves around the twins; and the fourth is the non-elves surrounding the Grosshils.

It's not a complete segregation, but it does make me a bit annoyed that the "cliques" are so obvious.

Ciel goes to do her thing as the angelic idol for the wounded while I go to Hermann and Klein.

"You don't drink?" I question the tall boy with a raised eyebrow.

"A knight shouldn't let a vice become a weakness," he cryptically replies, and I raise an eyebrow at his bullshit. "And I'm weak to alcohol…" He ashamedly admits.

"Alright… have you tried Eia?" I ask with a grin.

He quickly glances at Ahren and Klein, then hesitantly replies, "No, but perhaps I should."

"Ooh~… can we get some Cinco Flores?" Klein asks excitedly, but Anton and Ahren frown in worry.

But then, Sandoro interrupts our conversation, "Your Highness, I've just received word that Lyle has arrived in Escanso."

Oh, boy.